Upgrading CompuLab PC from LM19.3 to LM20.3 in BIOS-mode, because LM21 installer starts with EFI-mode menu.

[goetzkluge]

This is about a CompuLab Intense-PC v: 1.x.
The PC is configured for BIOS booting LM19.3 which has been installed some time ago on a MBR formatted HD without an ESP partition. It is working well.

I consider to upgrade the OS to LM21 64bit.
I would use the linuxmint-21-xfce-64bit.iso live system.
However, the live system linuxmint-21-xfce-64bit.iso starts with the menu for EFI-Mode. Therefore I fear that LM21 will be installed for EFI-Mode. But I want to keep the HD partitioning (especially /home). Furthermore I do not want to change the PC configuration.

Therefore I now am considering to ugrade to LM20.3 64bit.
The live system linuxmint-20.3-xfce-64bit.iso starts with the menu for BIOS-Mode.

I am fine with LM20.3, but I have a Proposal:
Even if a PC supports UEFI, the linuxmint-21-xfce-64bit.iso should start (offered as a menu option?) in BIOS-Mode (like the linuxmint-20.3-xfce-64bit.iso installer) if the target disk already is MBR formated without ESP.


%%%%%%%%% Screenshots %%%%%%%%%
Installer start menus (open link in new tab): https://imgur.com/a/oXYh5qp



%%%%%%%%% System Infos %%%%%%%%%

=== LM19.3 64bit Mate system presently installed on MBR formatted HD ===

Code: Select all

System:    Host: Borschtsch Kernel: 5.4.0-122-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.5.0 
           Desktop: MATE 1.22.2 wm: marco dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia 
           base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: CompuLab product: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: CompuLab model: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: Phoenix 
           v: IPC_2.2.400.1 X64 date: 08/31/2014 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-3337U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 14367 
           Speed: 2313 MHz min/max: 800/2700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2494 2: 2494 3: 2517 
           4: 2604 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:0166 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           compositor: marco resolution: 1280x1024~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 20.0.8 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:1e20 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-122-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: 4080 
           bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:1502 
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8723ae v: kernel 
           port: 3000 bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8723 
           IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 
           v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 05:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 717.27 GiB (154.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HCC547550A9E380 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 31.32 GiB used: 24.87 GiB (79.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
           ID-2: /boot size: 477.4 MiB used: 173.2 MiB (36.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-3: /home size: 422.50 GiB used: 346.12 GiB (81.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 3.82 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-0 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 1-1.3:3 info: Realtek type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0bda:8723 
           Device-2: 1-1.6:4 info: Logitech M105 Optical Mouse type: Mouse 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c077 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-3: 2-1.6:3 info: Chicony Genius LuxeMate i200 Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 04f2:0402 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/keybase.list 
           1: deb http: //prerelease.keybase.io/deb stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com tricia main upstream import backport
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teamviewer.list 
           1: deb https: //linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
Info:      Processes: 222 Uptime: 2m Memory: 3.30 GiB used: 746.5 MiB (22.1%) Init: systemd v: 237 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 alt: 7 Client: Unknown python3.6 client inxi: 3.0.32 

=== LM20.3 64bit XFCE live system ===

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 
           tk: Gtk 3.24.20 wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: CompuLab product: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: CompuLab model: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: Phoenix 
           v: IPC_2.2.400.1 X64 date: 08/31/2014 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-3337U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 14366 
           Speed: 1978 MHz min/max: 800/2700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2494 2: 2347 3: 2550 
           4: 2672 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:0166 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1280x1024~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 21.0.3 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:1e20 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-91-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: 4080 
           bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:1502 
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8723ae v: kernel 
           port: 3000 bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8723 
           IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 
           v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 05:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 473.23 GiB used: 41.3 MiB (0.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HCC547550A9E380 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> temp: 26 C 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Intenso model: Alu Line size: 7.47 GiB 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 1.65 GiB used: 18.5 MiB (1.1%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102 
           ID-2: /var/log size: 5.34 GiB used: 22.9 MiB (0.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb3 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.82 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda4 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 1-1.3:3 info: Realtek type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0bda:8723 
           Device-2: 1-1.5:4 info: Chicony Genius LuxeMate i200 Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 04f2:0402 
           Device-3: 1-1.6:5 info: Logitech M105 Optical Mouse type: Mouse 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c077 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-4: 2-1.5:3 info: Alcor Micro Flash Drive type: Mass Storage driver: usb-storage 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 058f:6387 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: 44.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           1: deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 20.3 _Una_ - Release amd64 20220104]/ focal contrib main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 197 Uptime: 1m Memory: 3.30 GiB used: 601.0 MiB (17.8%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38

=== LM21 64bit XFCE live system ===

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-41-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0
    tk: Gtk 3.24.23 wm: xfwm dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: CompuLab product: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: CompuLab model: Intense-PC v: 1.x serial: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: Phoenix
    v: IPC_2.2.400.1 X64 date: 08/31/2014
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core i5-3337U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge rev: 9 cache:
    L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB L3: 3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2494 min/max: 800/2700 cores: 1: 2494 2: 2494 3: 2494 4: 2494
    bogomips: 14367
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-2, VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: xfwm v: 4.16.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x1024 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: HDMI-1 mapped: HDMI-A-1 model: LG (GoldStar) L1953T res: 1280x1024 dpi: 96
    diag: 433mm (17")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 22.0.1 compat-v: 3.1
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-41-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: kernel port: 4080 bus-ID: 00:19.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1502
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8723ae v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8723
  IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 2000 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
  IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8723A Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1.3:3
    chip-ID: 0bda:8723
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
    sub-v: a5b1
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 473.23 GiB used: 11.9 MiB (0.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HCC547550A9E380 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    serial: <filter>
  ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Intenso model: Alu Line size: 7.47 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 1.65 GiB used: 18.4 MiB (1.1%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
  ID-2: /var/log size: 5.06 GiB used: 11.9 MiB (0.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb3
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 3.82 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda4
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 8087:0024
  Device-1: 1-1.3:3 info: Realtek RTL8723A Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 0bda:8723
  Device-2: 1-1.5:4 info: Chicony Genius LuxeMate i200 Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s chip-ID: 04f2:0402
  Device-3: 1-1.6:5 info: Logitech M105 Optical Mouse type: Mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid
    rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s chip-ID: 046d:c077
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Hub-4: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 8087:0024
  Device-1: 2-1.5:3 info: Alcor Micro Flash Drive type: Mass Storage driver: usb-storage
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 058f:6387
  Hub-5: 3-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Hub-6: 4-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: 45.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: apt: 2054
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
    1: deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 21 _Vanessa_ - Release amd64 20220726]/ jammy main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com vanessa main upstream import backport
    2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Processes: 215 Uptime: 1m Memory: 3.29 GiB used: 935.8 MiB (27.8%) Init: systemd v: 249
  runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 alt: 11 Client: Unknown python3.10 client inxi: 3.3.13

[Jo-con-Ël]

Yes GRUB menu looks like booting on UEFI mode but this is something I also noticed, there was not such differences as on previous edition. The only way I could see old fashioned BIOS grub menu was creating Linux Live USB with Rufus.

I don't know if you can disable UEFI on such computer setup, set boot mode to BIOS legacy only or CSM, place Legacy USB option first on boot order or use computer boot menu to be sure the mode you will boot USB (the option w/o UEFI signature).

Any way, you can see LM 21 Live booted on BIOS mode as per inxi. UEFI [Legacy]: Phoenix...., means UEFI is enabled and also CSM (legacy BIOS) on computer setup but you are booting on BIOS mode on that session, so you can proceed with installation and omit the warning you would receive about can't find EFI partition... and Continue .

[pbear]

... omit the warning ...

FYI, a better translation would be ignore the warning.

[goetzkluge]

Any way, you can see LM 21 Live booted on BIOS mode as per inxi. UEFI [Legacy]: Phoenix...., means UEFI is enabled and also CSM (legacy BIOS) on computer setup but you are booting on BIOS mode on that session, so you can proceed with installation and omit the warning you would receive about can't find EFI partition... and Continue .

Thank you.

I take the warning serious. On an other computer the LM21 installer run with "UEFI [Legacy]". But it installs a system which needs to be booted in EFI-mode.

[Jo-con-Ël]

I take the warning serious. On an other computer the LM21 installer run with "UEFI [Legacy]". But it installs a system which needs to be booted in EFI-mode.

That will be another case. Maybe you just need to be sure you boot disk drive (so Legacy BIOS boot option) not ubuntu (UEFI boot option) on computer's boot menu/boot order.

Previous Mint installer bugs are still when installing on secondary/external disk and now also when installing on BIOS mode, even in case of only one disk you need to take care. It will depend on the way you have installed but booting/installing on BIOS legacy mode:

Erase all and install now creates a GPT partitioning scheme by default with and EFI partition and also a bios-boot partition and use them to install grub-efi loader and grub-bios loader so you can boot in both BIOS and UEFI mode depending on computer setup.

Also choosing Something else... if click on creating a new partition table button, it will create a GPT partitioning cheme by default but not EFI partition or bios-boot partition as you have to create partitions by yourself on unallocated space.

The problem on such cases would be Installer does not create a bios-boot partition needed to boot in BIOS mode on GPT disks and it will try install grub-bios loader on partition's PBR it finds. It will throw a warning telling so.Do not ignore that warning or BIOS install would fail.

If you are happy with GPT partitioning scheme you can install and boot on BIOS mode, just get back and create such 1-2MB BIOS reserved partition.

If don't you want it, give up installing, format that disk with MBR/dos scheme and create partitions previuosly with DIsk or Gparted and then try installing again.

Also when beginning to install (so too late) you will receive a warning about to create a EFI partition as it will try to install also grub-efi. Ignore that warning if you don't want Mint installed also on UEFI mode

On other cases (i.e. installing with Something else option on previously partitioned MBR disk and only clicking on Change button) maybe you didn't notice and another disk was selected on Installer GUI to place loader, or, wrongly you selected a partition not a disk and failed...

Other case is LM 20.X editions installer bug creates an empty EFI partition on MBR disks so you couldn't boot on UEFi mode and didn't notice. New Mint's installer can use that previous EFI partition and place grub-efi loader on it with no problems and w/o saying a word about it (no advise or mention on summary/resume final window before starting copying files).

In any case sudo fsdik -l; lsblk -f; cat /etc/fstab would give clues about what happened, but open another topic for that case.

... omit the warning ...

FYI, a better translation would be ignore the warning.

I will use it on future or " warning can be omitted".Thanks.

[goetzkluge]

... I am fine with LM20.3, but I have a Proposal:
Even if a PC supports UEFI, the linuxmint-21-xfce-64bit.iso should start (offered as a menu option?) in BIOS-Mode (like the linuxmint-20.3-xfce-64bit.iso installer) if the target disk already is MBR formated without ESP. ...

@pbear: As you may have guessed, I am trying my IdeaPad S205 experiments (viewtopic.php?p=2211989#p2211989) with other computers.

My proposal seems to be a nice-to-have thing for PCs with no-good and/or outdated BIOS/UEFI firmware only. So it has low priority.

Here is some good news for the LM21 installer (linuxmint-21-xfce-64bit.iso).
I used Rufus to write it on a RAM stick (with an additional persistent partition).

I tried it on the IdeaPad S205.
Even though it reports UEFI-[Legacy], the installer starts with the menu for EFI (same thing as reported in viewtopic.php?p=2211989#p2211989).

Then I tried it on an Acer Aspire R3-131T (which still is running LM19.3 64bit Mate).
There it starts nicely with the menu for BIOS!
(This only works, if Rufus is is used to prepare the RAM stick.)

So (with involving some work with a screw driver) I can use my Acer Aspire to update the HDs on my bad behaving PCs (IdeaPad S205 and the CompuLab PC).


=== LM21 live on Acer Aspire R3-131T ===

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-41-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0
    tk: Gtk 3.24.23 wm: xfwm dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire R3-131T v: V1.15 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Acer model: Aspire R3-131T v: V1.15 serial: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: Insyde
    v: 1.15 date: 07/04/2016
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 44.5 Wh (100.0%) condition: 44.5/48.9 Wh (90.8%) volts: 16.8 min: 15.2
    model: LGC AC14B8K serial: <filter> status: Full
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Celeron N3160 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Airmont rev: 4 cache:
    L1: 224 KiB L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1409 high: 2240 min/max: 480/2240 cores: 1: 567 2: 629 3: 2240 4: 2203
    bogomips: 12800
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:22b1
  Device-2: Realtek HD Webcam - type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-3:2 chip-ID: 0bda:57cc
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: xfwm v: 4.16.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics res: 1366x768 dpi: 136 diag: 294mm (11.6")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 400 (BSW) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.1 compat-v: 3.1
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series High Definition Audio
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:2284
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-41-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 1000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168
  IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 3165 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:3165
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-5:4
    chip-ID: 8087:0a2a
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2
    sub-v: 1000
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 584.52 GiB used: 2.26 GiB (0.4%)
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk1 model: SR64G size: 59.48 GiB serial: <filter>
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 750 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    serial: <filter>
  ID-3: /dev/sdb type: USB model: 1F60 64GB size: 59.28 GiB serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 5.92 GiB used: 173.8 MiB (2.9%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 3.9 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda5
  ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -3 dev: /dev/sdb3
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 7 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Device-1: 1-3:2 info: Realtek HD Webcam - type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 0bda:57cc
  Device-2: 1-4:3 info: Raydium Touch System type: HID driver: hid-multitouch,usbhid rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 2386:0401
  Device-3: 1-5:4 info: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: Bluetooth driver: btusb
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0a2a
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 6 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
  Device-1: 2-1:2 info: Brain Actuated 64GB type: Mass Storage driver: usb-storage rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 1234:0903
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: apt: 2054
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
    1: deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 21 _Vanessa_ - Release amd64 20220726]/ jammy main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com vanessa main upstream import backport
    2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Processes: 219 Uptime: 3m Memory: 3.67 GiB used: 910.7 MiB (24.3%) Init: systemd v: 249
  runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 alt: 11 Client: Unknown python3.10 client inxi: 3.3.13